HTC has agreed to buy graphics visualisation company S3 Graphics, a patent foe of Apple, from Via Technologies and WTI Investment International.

On Wednesday, processor maker Via said the $300m (£187m) sale of S3 to Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC will "allow Via to monetise a portion of its rich IP portfolio, yet retain its graphics capabilities to support the development and sale of its processors and chipsets".

S3 makes graphics processing units (GPUs) and licenses its technology to game console companies such as Nintendo, as well as to PC and mobile phone companies. It is in the middle of a legal patent tussle with Apple over technology used in Mac computers and iOS devices. On Friday, it won an initial decision from the ITC, which said Apple had infringed on two S3 patents relating to image compression.